A Salesforce client of yours has a problem, so they reached out to you for help.
They’ve explained the issue, you’ve repeated it back to them to confirm your understanding, and now it’s time to make a decision. Also let’s remove urgency from this scenario, as that would clearly encourage you in one direction.
Knowing it’s not available from Salesforce, you have two main options.
- Do you build a custom solution?
- Do you buy a package and customize as needed?
Your answer may depend on whether you bill by the hour or offer fixed pricing. With the former, building a custom solution is better for you. You will spend more time working, thereby charging more. With the latter, you will spend less time and may charge less, but deliver significantly faster.
What’s better for your client? A custom approach allows for greater flexibility, but requires more maintenance. A product is more rigid but is upgraded and supported by a 3rd party.
So if the client is not very technical, a package is preferred. If they are technically capable and have future needs, custom is preferred.
The line between these two isn’t always clear, so be sure to answer it from multiple perspectives.
The takeaway
Sometimes what’s best for your client isn’t the best for you. But as providers, we should always consider our client’s needs over our own.